Fifty years after the Stockholm Conference of 1972 which led to the designation of June 5th as World Environment Day (WED), the reality of our ecosystem is that human activities have exacerbated the planet crises.
This year’s WED offers another opportunity for a collective global action to preserve and restore our fast depleting ecosystem. The fundamental crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste are largely human induced, and there cannot be a better time to remind ourselves that we have #OnlyOneEarth, which we must save.
These triple fold crises manifested through air pollution, plastic pollution, bush burning, deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, gas flaring, and oil spillage, among several others, have continued unabated across the globe, putting our planet on a high risk.
Today, we join the rest of the world in calling for “transformative changes to policies and choices to enable cleaner, greener, and sustainable living in harmony with nature.”
Across the globe, communities, families and individuals are having their fair share of our collective negligence and disregard for nature. In Nigeria for instance, the crises of our planet have resulted in drought and excess flood that continue to affect agricultural activities, escalating food crisis, and rendering many homeless.
There is therefore the need for leaders and citizens of the globe to take responsibility in order to save the planet from imminent collapse. The need to live sustainably in harmony with nature cannot be overstated; Governments and Environment leaders must formulate transformative policies, and we must all make necessary adjustments and choices to guarantee a cleaner and greener planet.
On this WED, SING Nigeria equally reaffirms our unwavering commitment to seek justice for victims of environmental degradation, especially those in the Niger Delta region who are mostly affected by incessant gas flaring and oil spillage. The journey to reclaiming our planet begins with massive reduction in greenhouse gas emission. World leaders must, beyond the rhetoric, demonstrate commitment to phase out fossil fuel and introduce clean energy options to save our #OnlyOneEarth.
A situation where, over the last year, communities in the Niger Delta witnessed some of the most devastating oil spills in their decades of existence, resulting in massive pollution of their waterways, which is the major source of their livelihood, clearly shows the poor level of commitment to save the planet.
We call for the full implementation of the Climate Change Act 2021 which provides for the mainstreaming of climate change actions. We also express the belief that the constitution of the “National Council on Climate Change” prescribed by this Act would better coordinate the nation’s response to the planet crisis.
May we use this opportunity to congratulate and appreciate all other environmental activists across Nigeria and all over the world on this WED, and again call for all to join hands in saving our #OnlyOneEarth.
